Fall in Love with Fall

There is no better time in the U.P. than early fall. The weather is mild, not too hot, not too cold (all you need is a light jacket!). The colors of the changing leaves are fantastically bright -- red, orange, yellow, set against the dark green conifers. And the dusty yet fresh smell of crunchy leaves permeates the area. I have fully embraced fall.

Although I have yet to rake leaves and jump in them this season, I have entertained myself with a few high quality fall activities. I went for a bike ride to admire the colors on a sunny day. I walked through the woods on a warm day. My mom and I went to Cranberry Fest in Eagle River, WI, where we bought honey, mittens, and hair feathers (for me, as a consolation for having to remove my tragus piercing). But my best activity yet: my very own Backyard Apple Festival.

An apple tree grows on our property a little ways down the dirt road (yes, people, I live on a DIRT road). This year, the tree is laden with apples. The branches bend down toward the ground groaning with the weight of the ripe, red fruit. What is the only way to relieve the Tree of its autumnal burden? Pick the apples, of course.

I feel a moral obligation to pick and consume as many apples as possible from the Apple Tree. At first I just reached up and pulled a branch down to pluck a few from the underside of the branches. Then, my dad and I stood on the truck bed of the Gator to reach higher. A few days later, I carried the ladder out, and my mom steadied it as I reached up even higher. The problem is that all the very biggest and bestest apples grow at the tippy top of the tree -- we can't even reach them on the ladder.

With the dozens and dozens of apples we have harvested, I've mostly made apple sauce. It doesn't sound that exciting, but homemade apple sauce is sensational. Our wild apples are very tart, so cooking them with a little water, sugar, and a cinnamon stick makes a wonderfully flavorful apple sauce. It's the culmination of tangy, sweet, and warm spice -- the ultimate fall flavor. After eating this apple sauce, I wonder why anyone ever buys mass produced applesauce -- pale and tasteless -- instead of making it at home. I leave the skins on for more nutrients and flavor (and it's easier), so it's nice and chunky, or if I puree it, it turns a lovely pink color from the red pigment in the skins. Mmm... I want some right now.

I've been making big batches of apple sauce and eating it warm as dessert or using it to substitute oil in zucchini bread or occasionally giving it away. We've used the apples to make tart apple crisp, which is also yummy. Fall is delicious in every way -- sight, taste, smell, sound, feel. Of all the seasons to be home, I'm glad to be here now when it feels homiest.